Bill G
ArboristSite King
Not at all, A Mass Rocket Stove is something I have never heard of. If you have it light it daily and it only does one room or large area it is not something I would want but everyone is different.
Cut when felled, or let 'em sit?
- Thread starter Joseph Acquisto
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It's something thats built into the house, they are huge. The mass of the stove absorbs the heat and it dissipates rather slowly. So you burn short hot fires once or twice a day and it keeps the house warm. They are very efficient. I'm assuming this is what the other guy is talking about as I don't know of another type of furnace that burns for such a short time and heats for so long, unless we're talking about a boiler with a lot of storage capacity.
I Hate to use Wikipedia link, but it gets the idea across
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_mass_heater
Bill G
ArboristSite King
I looked up the website of the brand he mentioned and if that works for him. you or other folks that is great. I am just saying there is no way on earth I would have a stove that burns for 90 minutes and had to be re-lit daily. You are saying maybe twice a day which is even worse. You mentioned a boiler. Well I have a boiler and I will assure you there is no relighting of it unless you get lazy or mess up (which I have done). Even then you rarely have to strike a match. In general you start a fire at the start of the season and it burns (smolders) throughout the season. Ever once in awhile if you randomly toss pieces in like me you will develop a bridge and the fire will die down. Also if you get busy and forget to check it the fire and temp might drop. Generally you still have enough hot coals in the ash to stir up and throw some good dry kindling on and take you water temp back up from 140 to 180 in no time at all. This might happen 1 to 3 times a season. Other than that you never light it again
I rarely if ever have to relight my furnace over winter. But thats not the point,these are extremely efficient compared to a boiler or solid fuel furnace. There's no need to burn all day in one of them. They also tend to use a lot less wood then a typical boiler, furnace, or stove.
So what your really saying, is you reject the idea of having a more efficient wood burning furnace, because you would have to re-light it once or twice a day? Thats as funny as your lazy if you have to re-light a boiler comment. Don't know why I even replied to you.
I watched a UT vid of one being built I think in Swede Land. Neat to watch but I really like the feel of backing up to a round oak when first coming in from the cold.
Yeah they are something. Not my cup of tea either though, interesting design and execution of heating a house.
Bill G
ArboristSite King
So does one of those stoves heat a 3500 square foot 6 bedroom 1800's civil ware era poorly insulated home?. If so great. You seemed to have copped some type of attitude that I cannot understand. I am simply asking questions to learn and that is what this site was built on not attitude. Until today I had never heard of one of them. If what you do works for you that is great. That does not mean it works for everyone. What I do works for me that does not mean it works for others but there are sure a ton on of boilers round the country. On my road alone we have four houses and three boilers. four woodstoves and one fireplace. On the (T) road there are 3 houses with two boilers and two wood stoves. My ex father in law has a boiler and I am trying to get one in my ex-wifes place.
You say....So what your really saying, is you reject the idea of having a more efficient wood burning furnace, because you would have to re-light it once or twice a day?.............
Well putting words in my mouth is not appreciated. I never said that. If I am gone for 16-20 hours at a time and a stove needs to be re-lit twice a day all the efficiency in the world is useless. Although it is not best I can run over 24 hours with out touching the boiler and longer in some cases. It works for me maybe not for you and tha is fine. At no point did I criticize you nor make any derogatory statements. I asked a question or two and gave my experiences. No need for attitude cause there is zero on my end.
You have yourself a great afternoon.
Go back and re-read your previous post, specifically your rant about having to relight a furnace.
to answer your other question yes, properly sized they are more then capable of heating your 3500 Sq foot house for 24hrs on one burn. The reason they are not commonly used is from the installation stand point. They pretty much need to be built into the house or they take up a lot of room. They also use a lot of materials wich makes them unappealing to many.
I think the answer to how small to split depends almost entirely on the size of stove being used, the climate the wood has to dry in and what species it is considering how fast it dries, and how long it has to dry before burning. There is no simple or universal answer.
A friend in Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island has a hard time getting wood to dry no matter what he does. In the SW lower mainland of BC things are about average; don't need to split fir or alder much below 6" if burned a year later, birch and maple maybe a bit smaller.
In the Cariboo of the BC interior where there is lots of dead pine due to the beetles, and the tree was dead for several years before bucking--if it fits through the stove door, why bother making it smaller?
A friend in Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island has a hard time getting wood to dry no matter what he does. In the SW lower mainland of BC things are about average; don't need to split fir or alder much below 6" if burned a year later, birch and maple maybe a bit smaller.
In the Cariboo of the BC interior where there is lots of dead pine due to the beetles, and the tree was dead for several years before bucking--if it fits through the stove door, why bother making it smaller?
Bill G
ArboristSite King
Ok you are an expert you know everyones house layout and situation. Thank you for the info. I will contact you when I need to position it
Bill G
ArboristSite King
That is spot on. Everyone's situation is different and no one has the right answer for everyone. It all depends on a huge amount of factors. What works for one does not work for another
No, I'm not, just sick of your constant prattle when you don't agree with something. No one suggested you get any type of furnace and, like normal, you went off an a rant about having to relight a furnace once or twice a day. No one gives a crap how many time you do or do not have to light a furnace, or what kind of house you live in. None of that information wad relevant to the topic on hand or the original topic. Just another bill is superior rant, like so many others.
I have an EPA I non cat stove. I split anything that's over about 4", so it will dry. EPA stoves don't like wood that's not dry.
Clearly the answer will depend on the stove you're burning the wood in, and also how clean a burn you want. I see a lot of houses with smoke pouring out of their stovepipes because they're burning wet wood.
Clearly the answer will depend on the stove you're burning the wood in, and also how clean a burn you want. I see a lot of houses with smoke pouring out of their stovepipes because they're burning wet wood.
Bill G
ArboristSite King
You sir need to read your own posts before you criticize me.
Bill G
ArboristSite King
Growing up we burned a lot of green locust in a boxwood stove in the skinning garage. Definitely not a wise decision. The sap would sometimes come dripping down the outside of the stove pipe (single wall). There was no need to clean it as it was rusted out in one or two seasons. I put a small air tight stove in my house 22 yaers ago and the pipe is still near perfect. You can burn green wood but just like you said it is going smoke.
In the outdoor boiler I burn a lot of green wood that is cut in the winter. Go cut and take it straight from the Mule to stove. It does smoke but really not to bad. I see a lot of boilers that smoke a ton more. I think it is all in how they were built.
preventec47
ArboristSite Operative
IF you think green wood smokes, you are wrong. What you are seeing is steam and in that steam is the majority of your heat. A large portion of the energy of the burning wood is forced to boil the water in the green wood which goes up the flue
as wasted energy. Never confuse how long the wood has been cut with how dry it is UNLESS it has been stored under cover so that is NEVER rained on. Wood is a sponge and every time it gets rained on reverses a month or more of its drying time.
Bill G
ArboristSite King
Ok we will just disagree then. Steam is water in the gas form, Smoke is not. It does have some H20 in it but is comprised of many VOC's That is science
Bill G
ArboristSite King
If you do not believe me then do a bit of a science experiment. Go boil you some water for pasta. get a good rolling boil going. Any odor in that steam? Any burning of your eyes outside of the heat? If what come of burning wood is steam then heck all the guys and gals smoking meat should just use water.
ValleyForge
Liberty Farms
Yep….You can’t see steam by definition…water vapor is invisible.
Bill G
ArboristSite King
Agreed. In is pure form steam ( H2O) is odorless, tasteless, and colorless. The smoke coming from burning wood has all of those three. It is simple science
